By MICHAEL MILLER
It’s only two games into the season, and Ronney Jenkins has found his groove.
The sophomore tailback had a career-high 171 rushing yards, 43 receiving yards and scored a touchdown as the Cougars pummeled the No. 14 Arizona State Sun Devils 26-6 Saturday night.
“It was a good game plan, we executed it well and it was good to have Ronney Jenkins back at full speed,” BYU Head Coach LaVell Edwards said.
A crowd of 65,096 filled Cougar Stadium for the 1998 home opener, and the Cougars did not disappoint on either side of the ball.
Offensively, the Cougars were unstoppable on the ground. On the night, BYU rushed for 214 yards and passed for 166.
And the BYU defense came through with huge plays as well. The Cougar defense shut out the high-powered Sun Devil’s offense for most of the game until allowing a meaningless touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
Arizona State coach Bruce Snyder complemented BYU on its effort and talked about why it was so effective.
“First, I think you have to give credit to BYU. They are physical and they can hit,” he said. “For three years now we have really struggled against them. We just haven’t figured how to play them.”
The Sun Devils had hopes of contending for a national championship in 1998, but that dream has all but vanished after starting the season with consecutive losses for the first time since 1979.
BYU picked apart Arizona State’s defense all night with short passes by Kevin Feterik and long runs by Jenkins. Jenkins scored on a two-yard run midway through the third quarter to put the Cougars ahead 23-0, which virtually put the game out of reach for the Sun Devils.
Jenkins, who was limited to six carries and 11 yards last week at Alabama because of leg cramps, showed the brilliance that made him the 1996 Western Athletic Conference Mountain Division Freshman of the Year.
“If Ronney stays healthy, he will be one of the premier running backs in the country,” Edwards said.
“He had a statement to prove tonight,” junior quarterback Kevin Feterik said of Jenkins performance. “The guy is just a warrior. When he hits that corner he is gone.”
Jenkins discussed the difference between last week’s game and Saturday’s against Arizona State.
“Last week I felt horrible and average,” Jenkins said. “This week it felt good getting into the end zone and scoring.”
The much vaunted BYU defense also came up big against the Sun Devils, limiting Arizona State to only 118 yards of total offense in the first half.
“We knew we had a good defense,” junior linebacker Rob Morris said.
The Sun Devil offense sputtered all night thanks to BYU’s defensive schemes. Receivers dropped passes, quarterback Ryan Kealy missed his targets and tailback J.R. Redmond struggled against BYU’s suffocating run defense.
Last week, Redmond had 254 all-purpose yards against Washington, including 108 yards rushing. Against BYU, he was nowhere near those numbers. Redmond finished the night with 62 all-purpose yards and 28 yards rushing on 16 carries.
“They have got one of the great threats in J.R. Redmond, and I thought we did a great job to stop him,” Edwards said.
Redmond also fumbled deep in Sun Devil territory late in the first half. That fumble led to a BYU field goal just before the half to put the Cougars up 16-0.
With 11:57 left in the first half, the Cougars scored their longest touchdown of the season. Sophomore wide receiver Ben Horton caught a deflected pass at the Cougar 35-yard line and rambled through the Arizona State defense 74 yards to put BYU ahead 10-0.
The Cougars also had an edge in the kicking game. Sophomore kicker Owen Pochman was perfect on four field goals (34, 41, 33 and 38 yards), while Arizona State’s Mike Gauthier missed two field goals in the first half and Stephan Baker had an extra point blocked.
The Sun Devil’s only touchdown came when Kealy hit Lenzie Jackson on a 15-yard scoring strike early in the fourth quarter.
With the win, BYU defeated Arizona State in consecutive games for only the second time in school history. The last time that happened was in 1935 and 1948.
